I have a new friend. A friendship that emerged from the furnace of adversity, crafted on a shared pathway through the valley of death. Almost 30 years ago, I fumbled my way through that awful, inky-black valley after the tragic death of our 7 month old daughter. My new friend has been groping for her […]
I spent a couple of hours recently in the office of an orthopedic surgeon with a hamstring injury that had developed into a chronic inhibitor of fun. One of the first questions the doctor asked me was, “When did this injury occur?” After recounting the original sports injury in 2004, the doctor offered a disheartening
I hate to admit it, but selfishness seems to be an effortless rut in the road of my life. It requires no strain for me to think far too often of myself, to grip too tightly to my time, my resources, and my life. Maybe that’s why the impromptu visit with my friend impacted me
I’m not certain how it happened, but I am alert that a change is taking place in me. Following the good news that the fast-growing mass in my body was nothing more than a benign nuisance, I was certain I’d live with renewed speed toward the swift accomplishment of my goals and dreams. Instead, the
It’s a new song. A brand new arrangement. A choir of distinctive birds. Every morning they gather, offering the soundtrack to the quiet sanctuary of my backyard. But today I’m restless. Distracted. All around me, I witnessed dozens of struggling plants. Heads drooped, leaves withered. I wasn’t the only one affected by several days of
Covering her left eye, she ran into the house, her long braids whipping hard across her back. Hunting for her mom, she cried out, “Mom, I’ve got something stuck in my eye.” It appeared to be a small white fleck, stuck firmly to the outer corner of her eye. This stubborn irritant wouldn’t budge. Instead, within
How many times have we heard those words…or thought them… or whispered them to ourselves, or casually admitted them to a friend, as if it’s noble or even God-honoring to keep one’s hope suppressed and one’s expectations low? My life has been in, what I would call, a holding pattern for the past 7 days,
Four days ago I received a call from my doctor regarding the hard marble-like bump that had appeared suddenly in my pelvic region. The ultra-sound results motivated the doctor to schedule a biopsy this week to determine the nature of the mass. I must admit, it takes no effort for my mind to run headlong
Have you noticed the media buzz around the notion of reducing New Year’s Resolutions down to a one theme word? This word replaces that long, often forgotten and hard-to-keep list of resolutions and is intended to envelop all your aspirations for a new year. Some of the favorites across our country have been: Simplify, Intentional,
I love the imagery of a new year: each one of us are given the opportunity to reset, to begin fresh, to ponder where we lost our way and to reorganize our resolves…. yet another time. The New Year offers us a blank canvas on which God provides a colorful pallet and a variety of